It is a platform popular among millennials and the generation thereafter. It is notorious (or rather infamous) for being politically correct, and the cringe factor of the internet. At first, I did not see Tumblr as something to be ashamed about. I contributed to the “facebook users can not know about my tumblr” punch lines, and it the websites mindset in which helped me to come to terms with my sexuality just five years ago.

I have an account myself which I use frequently, but it is for writing, and so it strays away from political and queer rights activism. Unfortunately, on my personal tumblr account, no matter how many uses I unfollow, I always find myself in the midst of political correctness and complaints being filed by your local gay, trans- nonbinary lesbian about issues with the newest episode of The Walking Dead and just why the writers are homophobic a**holes who can not accept love. It is safe to say, I wince.

When thinking back to the vivid images of the seventies and eighties, while of course there were social discrepancies, there was an abundant freedom of color on both men and women. There were figures and visionaries like David Bowie, Harvey Milk, and Prince who were openly advocating for gay rights, freedom of expression, or simply were themselves. Glitter was abundant in the streets and vibrant colors fit all sorts of people. There were Writers before the time such as Patricia Highsmith and Oscar Wilde who wrote of gay romance in their novels.

Looking at today, however, there has been a change in society. Good changes, of course, as gay marriage was only just legalized in 2015. More LGBT characters have been introduced on television (Orange is the New Black and How to Get Away with Murder were among the most talked about), and award winning movies like The Imitation Game and Carol hit the big screens with a warm welcome by the academy.

All of this is sound, as it is a good thing that there are so many characters that kids and young teenagers can look to as they are going through the questioning period. The fact that there is an abundance of gay characters on television is not the issue with modern day. The problem is, Tumblr’s gay community is impossible to please.

The Tumblr gay community is shaded with all walks of life, but among the most impossible to please is the social justice warrior (SJW) community. Let’s start with an example. There is nothing wrong with finding the fact that more transgender actors need the spotlight, but there is a problem with the logic they use when it comes to their so called “social justice”. I remember when Dallas Buyers Club was first released, and Jared Leto was a shoe inf or an oscar for best supporting actor. Instead of thinking of the highlights- he’s nominated for acting as a trans woman in the eighties with aids, which takes phenomenal skill and he did it phenomenally well, he was met with none other than senseless hate. The problem with this is, the community does not think about the benefits to this Oscar win.

The movie was made about a story that no one knew of up until the movie had come out. Had the film been introduced with no-named actors (because, let’s face it, unless Rayon’s actress was Laverne Cox, who does not fit the role what so ever, no one would know her) , it is very much likely the film would not get the attention it deserves. Jared Leto, a very skilled actor, took on this role to tell a story and open doors for discussions on transgender health, and for that he is met with grief. The tumblr social justice community, which overlaps heavily with the gay community, can come off as ungrateful for the fact that their story is shown. This only happens with trans rights, however. It is not an issue when Benedict Cumberbatch played Alan Turing in The Imitation Game, or when Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett played a lesbian couple in Carol, despite the fact that none of these three are gay or bisexual themselves.

The tumblr community also holds itself to a heavy amount of victimhood. While I do not speak for the entire community, and I no doubt have had it much easier than others, it is impossible to believe that everyone on tumblr has had someone purposely be homophobic or transphobic at family get togethers (as the on going gag goes). The gay community has because so intolerant so as to say the fact someone may not agree with gay marriage, but is no such threat to you, is just as bad as a family that would throw their child out on the street. It is in their mind that if someone has different views of theirs on gay marriage, they are an immediate threat, however that is just not the case. One of my greatest friends is a conservative, and although I identify as moderate politically as of now, when I was heavily liberal back in the day, he still had no problem with my sexuality. It’s not hard to overcome differences if those differences are not a threat. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is safety, and it is better to be acquainted with disapproval rather than violence, so be grateful.

Above all annoyances and issues I take with then tumblr lgbt community, however, is the craze there is with new identities every few hours. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (and, for the sake of a generalization, we will add queer to the end of it) are the four sexualities and genders. This is the embarrassment to end all embarrassments.

In the past few years, there has been so many new labels on the “spectrum” of gender that it is laughable. Transtrenders is a term coined by the anti-sjw community in which refers to those users that claim to be trans, however do not suffer from dysphoria. To see these users claim themselves as trans while not feeling any discomfort with their body is offensive to actual trans people. See Matthew C. or Blaire White on YouTube for good examples of this.

These transtrenders use terms such as nonbinary, agender, genderflux, genderqueer, demiboy, and demi girl to label their gender identity, but all mean the same thing. The basis for all of the genders is solely the fact that they may like feminine things or may like masculine things, and do not conform to gender roles, but that begs the question- in a community that claims gender roles are social construct, why do they feel the need to claim a gender based solely off gender roles to begin with? It’s laughable, and to the fact they even go as far as putting five or six labels into their about section is even worse if only considering the fact they claim they are more than their sexuality or identity, yet they choose to force it repeatedly down their throat.

And for those that do claim to change gender (genderqueer, genderflux) on a case by case or day by day basis, god forbid you get their pronouns wrong even when their pronouns begin with an x or a z. Be careful of this, as it may trigger them- much like the way “transvestite” triggered the community when referencing the Rocky Horror Picture Show, despite the song and play entirely being written by a trans person entirely.

With that said, it is not entirely impossible to meet someone kind and respectful who adheres by “they” pronouns, and to that I can give a little of my dignity to respect them in return.The truth is, while it is nice to be openly accepted in a community of people who vaguely resemble you, I have come to accept in the past four years that being gay does not define who I am, and the only reason I thought so was because of millennial activists on a blogging and platform. Since I have matured, (albeit not by much, but enough) I have come to agree with the assumption that most people who use tumblr and identify as some means of the lgbt umbrella are cancerous.